Monitors for sensing the heart rate, breathing or other vital functions of a hospitalized person are well known in the art. Devices for home use have been developed to aid in the care of infants or elderly persons to monitor breathing, heart rate, and the like. These devices are however often too complicated to be operated by an unskilled person and/or cause discomfort to the person being monitored.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,012, a breathing monitor is disclosed for detecting Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in infants caused by apnea, which monitor includes an enclosure that is attached to the torso of an infant using a strap. The enclosure is supported by and isolated from the infant's torso by a fluid filled bladder coupler such that there is no direct contact between the enclosure and the torso of the infant. A monitor including a piezoelectric element is connected to the fluid coupler and a battery powered electronic circuit contained in the enclosure flashes an LED as the infant breathes and sounds and alarm should the infant fail to exhale for a predetermined period of time. An adjustable strap connector for the strap provides visual indication of the strap being correctly attached and a limited range of motion is permissible between the strap and the enclosure when the infant breathes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,885 a hospital bed or mattress for infants including a respiration monitor and alarm to detect apnea is disclosed. The infant's breathing causes slight displacements of portions of its body which in turn transmit dynamic recoil forces to the bed on which the infant is resting.
The monitors disclosed in the prior art suffer from a number of drawbacks. A most basic disadvantage of known monitors is that securing the device to the body of an infant is a cumbersome task which does not encourage use of the device. Known devices are in addition uncomfortable to wear, easily become displaced in use and require a skilled user.
The inventor therefore believes that a need exists for a device for monitoring various indicators relating to the health or comfort of an infant or grown person and for communicating information to a caretaker of the infant or grown person and which device overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.